Cook leads England into semis

England overcame a spirited challenge from New Zealand and defeated them by 10 runs to qualify for the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy. Skipper, Alastair Cook led from the front and hit a 47-ball 64. James Anderson was the pick of the England bowlers and picked up three wickets.

New Zealand won the toss and elected to bowl first. Corey Anderson made his debut for the Black Caps in place of Tim Southee. The hosts were forced to leave out Graeme Swann because of a calf injury - he was replaced by James Tredwell.

Coming to the game, initially, the rain frustrated the players and the crowd and when it finally subsided, the much-awaited contest got underway, but was reduced to 24 overs-a-side.

Soon after the game began, with England batting first, Ian Bell was given an early reprieve, when James Franklin dropped him on 7 in the second over of the innings off the bowling of Kyle Mills. But the stylish England opener could not make the most of the opportunity and was dismissed by Mitchell McClenaghan in the next over after managing to add only three more runs - Brendon McCullum holding a splendid sharp catch at short extra cover.

Next, KyLe Mills sent Jonathan Trott packing in the following over for just 8. The home team were in early trouble. Luckily for England, Alastair Cook was dropped on 14 by Nathan McCullum in the 8th over and made New Zealand pay. He put his foot on the accelerator and hammered Franklin for a six and a boundary in the 13th. Joe Root gave his skipper excellent support by rotating the strike and taking the odd calculated risk to pick the occasional boundary. The pair had put on a fine 75-run stand off 11 overs before McClenaghan returned to send Root back for a well-compiled 38.

Cook, once again, led from the front and went on to score his 18th ODI fifty. He got stuck into Williamson in the 18th over, smashing him for a magnificent straight six before lofting him for a boundary four off the penultimate ball of the over.

Nathan McCullum, who had dropped the England captain thrice earlier, finally held a catch offered by Cook, when he gleefully accepted a simple caught and bowled in the 19th over to end a fantastic knock by the England captain - 64 off just 47 deliveries. After Cook departed, Eoin Morgan was plumb lbw to Daniel Vettori in the next over. Soon after, in the 22nd over, the batting powerplay was enforced.

In the end, New Zealand came back well in the 'death overs' and picked up a heap of wickets to restrict England to 169. Kyle Mills (four wickets) and Mitchell McClenaghan (three wickets) were the destroyers-in-chief.

When England bowled, James Anderson inflicted a double blow on New Zealand early in their innings by getting rid of Luke Ronchi and Martin Guptill in only the 4th over of the innings. Not much later, the Black Caps found themselves in a great deal of strife, when Tim Bresnan sent back the dangerous Ross Taylor for a paltry contribution of 3 runs and reduced New Zealand to 27/3 after 7 overs.

Kane Williamson then got a few boundaries and, in fact, was the only New Zealand batsman who looked at ease scoring runs. But Williamson was losing partners in a hurry. Ravi Bopara, for instance, rocked New Zealand with a double blow when he got rid of the dangerous Brendon McCullum and James Franklin in successive overs to leave New Zealand in big, big trouble at 66/5 after 14 overs.

At this stage, Kane Williamson looked like he had taken it upon himself to single-handedly win the match for New Zealand. He took a real shine to the innocuous off-spin of James Tredwell and helped New Zealand to 100/5 after 18 overs.

A little later in the game, Williamson notched up an attractive half-century and 55 runs were required off the last 4 overs. The talented Williamson then got stuck into Tim Bresnan and hammered him for a six and a boundary in the 21st over - 19 runs came off it.

Fortunately for England, Stuart Broad had Williamson caught in the next. The replays, though, suggested that Broad overstepped marginally. But, the third umpire didn't think so and Williamson was sent on his way after making a splendid 67 off just 54 deliveries.

Williamson's exit was followed by the wicket of the gutsy Corey Anderson - Tim Bresnan dismissed him in the 23rd over for a valuable 30. Nathan McCullum and Kyle Mills did hit a few lusty blows and try to get New Zealand across the finish line, but the target of 169 proved a little too much for New Zealand's lower order and the Black Caps fell short by 10 runs.

England became the first team from Group A to qualify for the semi-finals. Alastair Cook was adjudged the Man-of-the-match for his 47-ball 64. England's position in Group A, though, is still not certain and whether they face India or South Africa in the semi-finals will depend on the clash between Australia and Sri Lanka at the Oval tomorrow (June 17). Weather permitting, the contest should be a good one.

The International Cricket Council made it clear that it had nothing to do with the absence of former Indian captain Ravi Shastri from the panel of commentators for last month's ICC Champions Trophy in England.

Former skipper, Sunil Gavaskar and other ex-cricketers on Tuesday said in unison that one should refrain from drawing comparisons between Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his predecessors, insisting instead to rejoice India's success in the ICC Champions Trophy.